Process of making sulfur dioxid.



o. 872,822. PATENTED DEC. 3, 1907.

J. G. JONES.

PROCESS OF MAKING SULFUR 1310x111.

APPLICATION IILED MAY 11, 1907.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

[Ni ENTER ylw PATENTED DEC. 3, 1907.

J. G. JONES.

PROGBSS OF MAKING SULFUR DIOXID.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11. 1907. 4

2 SHEETS-SHEHT 2.

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WITNE an auxiliary from the S0 gas which is JOHN G. JONES, OF CARTHAGE, NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF MAKING SULFUR DIOXID.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, 1907.

Application filed May 11. 1907- Serial No. 373 ,093-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. JoNEs, a citizen of .the United States, residing at Carthage, in the county of Jefferson and State of New. York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Maki SO Gas from Sulfur-Bearing Ores; and l o hereby declare the following to .be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful processes for producing sulfur as ($0,) from sulfur bearing ores, especiafiy from iron pyrites, and consists essentially in the introduction into a rotary kiln, in which sulfur bearing ores are being roasted,.of SO gas produced by burning commercial sulfur in burner, thereby enriching the gas given off from the sulfur bearing ores.

The invention consists further in the process of causing crushed sulfur bearing ore to pass throu h a hopper surrounded by a heat dust chamlmr, whereby the fresh ore may absorb heat before enterin a rotary kiln in which, as it is fed forwar it absorbs heat given off from the ore in the burning zone of the kiln and, becoming highly heated in consequence thereof, is prepared to give off its SO gas readily when it reaches the burning zone.

The invention consists further in various steps of the process which may be carried out by the employment of an apparatus which will be hereinafter fully described.

I illustrate my apparatus in the accompanying drawin s, reference mar ed thereon, form a invention, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View through a portion of an apparatus utilized in carrying out my process, portions bein shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through a portion of the rotary kiln showing a commercial sulfur burning kiln in elevation and connected thereto. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through the rotary ore burning kiln. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the hopper and dust chamber, shown in Fig. 1.

part of my Reference now being had to the details of wlnch, with the letters of directly rests. About the circumference of v the kiln are series of gear teeth O with which a pinion C meshes for rotating the kiln.

One end of the rotary kiln has fixed thereto a nipple D which extends through an opening in the wall 'D of the dust chamber,

,said opening being provided with a flange d forming a bearing for the nip le as it rotates therein. Passing transversefy through the lower portion of the dust chamber is a feed pipe E extending centrally into said kiln, as shown clearly in Fig. 1 of the drawings. A'supportin pier or 0st F rests upon t e bottom'of t e dust c amber and supports said feed pipe and, fixed to said feed pipe, is a tapering hop er G which is surrounded by the dust cham er and has a flange G at its upper end resting upon a flange of the dust c amber. with one another from the inner surface of the dust chamber and the outer circumfer- Projecting in alternate relations once of the hopper are series of alternately arranged baffles GR designed for the purpose of detaining dust which otherwise might be drawn up through the dust chamber and make exit at the upper end thereof. The lower open end of the hopper registers with an opening formed in said feeding tube and i H designates a feeding plunger adapted to reciprocate within said feed tube by any suitable means communicated to the stem H of said plunger, whereby ore falling from the hopper into said tube may be pushed forward into the kiln understood.

I designates an ore crusher in which the which will be readily sulfur bearing ore is reduced to a suitable granular shape, from which crusher it falls into the end ess conveyer J up which it is carried and deposited into the hop er.

Leading from the upper portion of the ust chamber are the pipes G shown clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawings, one of said pipes being connected at its outer end to a curved pipe L through'which the gas is drawn in any suitable manner.

Said kiln A has a lining of fire brick A,

, which'the pipe N leads.

certain of said brick designated by A projecting beyond the others and serving as agitators for the purpose of lifting up and turning the ore as the kiln through which it is passing revolves slowly. At the discharge end of the kiln is a hood M in which the end of the kiln A rotates and through A suitable register 0, shown in end elevation in Fig. 4 of the drawings, is formed in said hood and adapted to control the feeding of air into the kiln for the purplose of combustion. At the lower end of t e hood M is a discharge outlet M controlled by a balanced valve P having a' weight P mounted upon one end thereof, which normally holds the valve closed and directly underneath said discharge opening in the'hood M is a conveyer trough E into which the waste ore, now in an oxid state, falls and is conveyed away. The automatically operated balanced valve P, which normally-closes the opening in the bottom of the hood M after the waste ore is dumped, will quickly close preventing the introduction of too much air into the kiln. The hood M is supported by means of the bracket arms M having stub axles on which are journaled the flanged wheels M which rest upon the tracks S Mounted u on a suitable truck S, having wheels S w 'ch travel upon said tracks 8", is a sulfur gas producer T, which may be either rotary or stationary. In the drawings, 1 have shown the producer as capable of being rotated and provided with bands M about its circumference and which rests upon the anti-friction rollers T.

combustion purposes.

The ends of the said producer are taperlng and each end communlcates with the pipe N, whichleads through the register and said hood and opens into the dischar e end of the kiln A. At one'end of said sulfur gas producer T is a feedin device, consisting of a plunger reciprocate by the stem T whereby the commercial sulfur which enters the hopper T may be automatically or otherwise fed into said producer T. At the outer end of said as producer is a re .ister' T through whic air may be admitte for the purpose of combustion within said producer.

The operation of the process is, as folsulfur is placed within the sulfur gas producer and i ited and the intensely heated SO, generate therein passes into the discharge end of the kiln and will heat the fire brick to a very high degree of temperature, a sufficient amount of air being admitted through 'the register to allow for The kiln being heated sufiiciently, the sulfur bearing ore, such as iron pyrites which is first crushed to a granular condition, is elevated and deposited in the hopper which is surrounded by the dust chamber.

By havin the ore hopper surrounded by the dust c amber through which the heated SQ gas passes, the ore within the V formly hopper will absorb rounding chamber, thereby becoming heated before entering the kiln and, at the same time, the absorbing of the heat by the fresh ore reduces the temperature of the gas being drawn ofi by suction or otherwise from the openings at the upper end of the dust chamber. As the plunger H'in the feed pipe is the heat from the surreciprocated, the ore w1ll be fed into the kiln A and, by regulating the speed of the piston, the quantity fed to the kiln may be gaged very accurately to suit the requirement of the ore being roasted.

By the provision of the three gas outlet openings in the dust chamber, the circulation of the S0 gas around the ore hopper may be made positive, thus insuringuniheated ore before it passes into the rotary kiln to be further treated. As the ore is introduced into the kiln A, the slow rotary movement of the latter will cause the ore to be fed forward by gravity, partly due to the pitch of the kiln-and partly to the rotary movement of the same. The agitator. brick which projects from the lining of the kiln will serve to stir the ore and constantly bring fresh surface in contact with the S0 gas. As the ore is slowly fed forward, it will I absorb heat from the S0 gas which is given off from the ore in the burning zone of the kiln, becomes highly heated in consequence thereof and is made ready to give off its SO as when it reaches the burning zone.

It will be understood that as the sulfur as S0 is formed in the burning zone of the ki n, it is enriched by the S0 gas produced by burning commercial sulfur in the sulfur gas producer, through the rotary kiln and impartm heat to the incoming sulfur ore which has a ready been partially heated by the radiating of heat from the dust chamber. As the ases laden with dust pass through the dust 0 amber, the dust will be precipitated in the lower ortion of the chamber by coming in contact with the alternate arranged baffles arran ed the combined gases being drawn upon the adjacent walls of the dust cham er and the hopper in which the ore is deposited and may be readilg withdrawn from the lower portion of sai chamber. By making the joints air be measured to meet the necessary requirements for combustion.

Heretofore in producing sulfur gas, expensive apparatus has beenutilized, requiring the ore to be treated to be first reduced to a concentrated state, but by my process, the apparatus employed is inexpensive, simple in construction, and'the SO gas may be extracted from the sulfur bearing ores in tight, the quantity of air may their natural state, this being made possible by means of the high temperature of the SO gas in the producer M, by burning common commercial sulfur and making it assist in burning the sulfur bearing ores in the rotary kiln, which ores in their natural state, it is well known, wouldnot furnish sufficient heat to make perfect roasting ofthe ore possible from the sulfur contained in the ore itself.

What I claim is 1. The process of making SO which consists in burning com aratively pure sulfur andintroducing su fur dioxid produced thereby, together with a regulated quantity of air, into a kiln in which sulfid ore is bein roasted, thereby enriching the gas given 0% from the ore being roasted, as set forth. '2. The process of making SO which consists in burning comparatively pure sulfur and introducing the sulfur dioxid produced thereby together with a regulated quantity of air into a kiln in which sulfid ore is being roasted, thereby enriching the gas given off from the ore being roasted, and afterwards separatin the dust from the kiln and withdrawing t e gas therefrom, as set forth.

3. The process of making SO which consists in burning comparatively pure sulfur and introducing. the sulfur dioxid produced thereby, together with a regulated quantity of air, into a kiln in which sulfid ore is being roasted, thereby enriching the gas given ofi from the ore being roasted, and afterwards separating the dust from the kiln and withdrawing the gas therefrom, the temperature of which has been reduced by imparting its heat to the incoming ore as set forth.

4. The process of making sulfur dioxid which consists in burning commercial sulfur in a suitable receptacle and introducing the relatively concentrated sulfur dioxid produced thereby at a high temperature with air into a kiln in which sulfur bearing ore is being roasted, thereby enriching the gas given off from the ore and afterwards separating the dust from the kiln and withdrawing the gas therefrom, as set forth.

5. In the process of making sulfur dioxid the steps consisting in burnin commercial sulfur and introducing with a1r the highly heated relativel concentrated sulfur dioxid given ofi from t e burning of the sulfur into a kiln to gradually heat up sulfur bearing ore being fed through the kiln, thereby preparing the ore for the burning zone, as set forth.

6. In the process of making sulfur dioXid the steps consisting in burning commercial sulfur and introducing with air the highly heated relatively concentrated sulfur dioxid given off by the burning of the sulfur into a kiln to gradually heat up sulfur bearing ore being fed through the kiln, thereby preparing the ore for the burning zone and enriching the sulfur dioxid given ofi by the ore, the heating of the fresh ore cooling the sulfur dioXid.

7. In the process of making sulfur dioxid the steps consisting in subjecting sulfur bearing ore before entering a kiln to the influence of heated sulfur dioxid, thereby cooling'the latter and heating the ore and afterwards subvjecting the ore in the burning zone of a kiln to air and hi hly heated relatively concentrated sulfur dioxid producedby burning commercial sulfur, thereby enriching the sulfur dioXid given off from the roasted ore, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

- JOHN G. JONES. Witnesses:

A. G. PECK, A. T. WOOD. 

